SG KENARONG, ROYAL BELUM

14 FEB 2016

After a successful first day, we roll on to day 2 of our short adventure in Royal Belum State Park, Perak. This time we will focus on an area called Sg Kenarong. I have been there back in AUG 2015 and it was a great place to fish for Sebarau and Toman. It was a tiring Day 1 with all the driving on the previous day and all day fishing in Day 1 at Sg Papan. I takes some effort to wake up in the morning haha, reheat the chicken curry that I made for dinner and early morning shower.. Man it was cold! It’s like showering with ice cold water in the morning.. Ergh..

Breakfast, pack our lunch and move on to start another round of fishing. We begin our morning session at a location slightly further back then Teluk Y. I couldn’t pinpoint where exactly the location as this place was totally new to me. Grasses were sunken beneath the water and provides a good cover for sneaky predator like Toman and Sebarau.

Some of the Sebarau we caught were on Spoon, Top water and deep cranking lure on Day 1. So this morning we wanted to try out to catch on a popper. I’m using a Starlit 3D Popper, GOGL and Scott on a popper that looks like a Megabass POP-X, gold color. On a bait caster or a spinning outfit, casting distance may not be one of the most important factor. Although sometimes we need a considerable amount of distance to place our lure at the best possible strike zone. Accuracy plays an important part in ensuring we can catch more fish when we place our lure at the right place.

During high water level, grass or bushes that are now underwater provides a good cover for predator and pray. Fish usually stays closer to the shoreline, in between the grass and open water. Scott has definitely get hang of using bait caster and were able to send his lure at the right spot. Earning 3 Sebarau to his name, and 1 Baby Toman. Along the grass shorelines, there are small opening or patches within the grass and that place is the best place to send our lure. 1-2 pop as the lure heads out from the grass area will trigger a strike.

Set the bar on Day 2, Sebarau on Popper.

Thick dense jungle! A great sight and we can hear all sort of animal calling in the jungle. Barking dear and Birds are the loudest! It’s a busy jungle 🙂

The area was quite wide and occasionally we would leave the grass shoreline and head out to hunt down Toman or Giant Snakehead. There are some group but as usual they would just ignore all the bait we throw at them. We even try live bait but still they were not interested. Our attention soon deviated to another “cape”, and as soon as Scott’s lure hit the water, a massive wake just bangs his golden popper twice but did not connect properly! Argh! A trophy size Sebarau! That could have been the one fish that will put a tremble feeling in the heart of man haha. Pfft.

We keep on trying at the same spot but luck was not on our side. It was a bit windy and to position the boat was slightly difficult. We leave the spot and head to open water, chasing down Toman again but still no luck. Soon we followed a school of Toman young-lings that swims along the grass shoreline. It all came to life as Sebarau that were station along the grass would come out and hammered the baby Toman one by one. It was an amazing sight to see splashes and some times we saw the back fin of a Sebarau that are too busy hammering their breakfast. We kept on throwing poppers at the “bait ball” as if a single fish were strayed from their group. Only small Sebarau went after our lure and big ones just seems to disappear after banging the bait ball.

Sebarau is known as the “Serigala Air Tawar” or “Freshwater Wolves” as they hunts in group and they are aggressive and stunning agility. Under clear water, we can see the agility of a Sebarau when baby Toman passes it hiding spot. It was very fast, and with it’s big mouth it will be a quick death for their pray.

Smallest Sebarau! There aren’t shy to take on a popper their size!.

About 11.00am we ditch the spot and head back into Royal Belum to our designated location, Sg Kenarong. Hehe we stop over at our first spot, spooning for some Sebarau. This time only one Sebarau were landed and that place has gone all quite haha. I guess we have captured them all at that spot! But all fish were safely release!

Today seems a bit hotter then last night and it was burning sensationally haha. Keep re-hydrating ourselves is the key to avoid heat stroke. We bring as much water as we can and we kept them cool with ice. Sg Kenarong is further up north then Sg Papan. It is a small river that connects to the main Belum-Temenggor lake. We made a stop at one spot but nothing there. We head on to Sg Kenarong Base Camp for lunch and rest.

Lucky spot, my 5th Sebarau! This time fallen for the AXZ spoon!

Sg Kenarong Base Camp in one of the 4 main camp in Royal Belum. There were only three of us that made a short stop over for lunch and rest. It was highlighted in “Majalah 3” few years ago, and I still wonder why people don’t seems to visit this beautiful place. Sg Kenarong Base Camp is also known as a bird sanctuary for Horn Bills and it was sanctioned by IBA.

Get the portable stove, grill some sausages and bread for lunch. It has the usual facilities like kitchen, bathroom, toilet, chalets and camping area. An open space, a great place to relax and enjoy nature.

The wind is blowing, keeps your body cool while you enjoy the scenic. As time goes by.. you will end up in dreamland 🙂

We soon continue our journey. Sg Kenarong was so different with the changes of the water level takes place. We begin with trolling along the river but still did not provide us with the result we wanted. We cast along the grass and even deeper but still nothing.

Our exploration were halted in one section as the river is blocked by a fallen tree. But we manage to continue on as we deviate through a shallow area and made it over the fallen tree. The water now is pristine, cold and we can see the riverbed filled with dead leaves. We continue upstream for about 100m and stopped at a L section and that place was quite deep. We used TDD9 and it was clear all the way. 6 meter depth.

This is the furthers I’ve been in Sg Kenarong, and wanted to go even further. about 20m from the L section finally we reach a small rapid and the riverbed is filled with pebble and stone. An indication that this is nearer to the main water source of Sg Kenarong.

Tirelessly cast all day

Closer to the rapid, Sg Kenarong main water source

Crystal clear water! We can see Copper Mahseer and Sebarau swims pass us! A great sight and the best thing is this place is still protected 🙂

The sight of 100 fish swims for cover along the rapid was an amazing sight. It put a smile in my face, knowing that this place is still protected and can be a safe haven for native game species. A heritage that I’am proud off, although an improve mechanism or effort for conservation is required to ensure that this place is sustainable.

The river was flowing fast now, and marked the end of the path. If its on foot we can travel deeper but not today. We stop for a while and enjoy the cold water. Pok Jan decided to go for a swim haha. It was 5.30 and not time to waste, we push on down stream. We were casting along the rapid and the sudden I can see the school of Tengas give way to some thing. It was a Sebarau. Not sure how big but I can see the back fin. I cast the popper, and after 3-4 pops, it took it but did not connect. Darn it that was one of the best shot of the day and.. no luck.

Never forget to live your life 🙂

We travel out from Sg Kenarong and did some trolling along the way. Nothing. We made 2 stops. Nothing. We were closer to Sg Papan and made a stop at a shallow area. We continue on casting topwater lure along the shallow area. All the sudden boom! Pok Jan hooked it properly and landed a Toman haha. He is the Man! hahaha.

Still not a big one but an acceptable size haha. It was getting late and dark. The sun about the set over the horizon. It was the end. Our 2 day adventure in Royal Belum was probably an informative one and great new experience for Scott. We sit back, and enjoy the sunset as the color tone changes from orange to purple.

A nice Toman! On a red pencil lure.

Here comes the selfie haha.. 🙂

We reach the mothership around 7.30pm and we need to leave the boat by 8.30 to stay on track to reach KL no later then 2.00am. It then end Chinese new year holiday and luckily the traffic from Kuala Kangsar to KL was clear. Scott was still hoping to take a photo of wandering elephant that we saw on the day we travel to Royal Belum haha, but we didn’t see any that night.. 🙂

It was a great outing and hopefully we can do better next time 🙂 Thank you friend 🙂

Author: Noru Razak

Angler, Journalist and Conservationist.. A short summary about my traits. I have been fishing since I am still a kid, thanks to my dad who shared all the basic knowledge of fishing. Fishyology will become a site to share knowledge and experience for all anglers across the globe.